Davidson School of Chemical Engineering graduate students Ranga Rohit Seemakurthi and Zewei Chen, both CISTAR Graduate Fellows at Purdue, were selected to receive CISTAR fellowships for the 2020-2021 academic year. CISTAR awards two fellowships annually, both funded by Purdue ChE alumni: The Dick Reitz CISTAR Fellowship, funded by Mr. Reitz (class of 1963) and the Bill Murray CISTAR Fellowship funded by Mr. Murray (class of 1961). Fellows are nominated by CISTAR faculty members based on academic performance and research accomplishments. Ranga Rohit Seemakurthi is advised by Dr. Jeff Greeley. Zewei Chen is advised by Dr. Rakesh Agrawal.

LyoHUB, a university-industry center at Purdue University, is advancing the science of lyophilization and providing the necessary capabilities in the fight against COVID-19 and other illnesses around the globe. "We are excited that LyoHUB capabilities are being utilized right now to speed up development of novel COVID-19 diagnostics," said Dr. Alina Alexeenko, Professor of Purdue's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, and co-Director of LyoHUB. "We are ready to offer support for other efforts to improve lyophilization for faster manufacturing of COVID-19 reagents, drugs, and vaccines." Read more about LyoHUB on p. 8 of the ChE newsletter.

Dr. Rakesh Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, is leading the Sustainable Food, Energy and Water Systems NSF Research Traineeship. A partnership with Purdue's Department of Agronomy and Florida A&M, the research has been awarded $3 million in seed funding from the National Science Foundation and an additional $2.5 million from the NSF's Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Systems. Read more about this robust program to conduct research in food and energy sustainability, while also educating and training graduate students, on page 4 of the ChE newsletter.

For the second consecutive year, a Davidson School of Chemical Engineering professor has been named to the list of Highly Cited Researchers from the Web of Science Group. Dr. Letian Dou, the Charles Davidson Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, is among approximately 6,400 scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated significant influence through publication of multiple papers, highly cited by their peers, during the last decade. Dr. Dou was recognized for his cross-field impact.

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) announced today that Purdue Chemical Engineering alumna Deborah L. Grubbe (BSChE '77), will become President of AIChE in 2021. Grubbe, the Owner and President of Operations and Safety Solutions, LLC, succeeds 2020 President Monty M. Alger, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. Christine Grant, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Inaugural Associate Dean of Faculty Advancement at North Carolina State University’s College of Engineering, will become 2021 President-elect, and will succeed Grubbe as AIChE President in 2022.